Ochiai Hiromitsu
Ochiai Hiromitsu is the assistant coach. While both can be called coach in English, Kataoka is 監督 ‘kantoku’ (the main coach) and Ochiai is コーチ(simply coach/trainer) of the Seidou High School Baseball Team. Character He has a radical, straightforward way to lead a team. If he were the coach he would limit the number to twenty people from each school year and prohibit ordinary guys to join the team unless they show an outstanding talent, because he thinks that the team has way too many members. At that moment the team has 59 members, but he assumes that the number will surpass 100 after the new first years will join and he would prefer it to spent his time only on improving the elite few players. "It may be just high school baseball, but it's still all about skills and results. There's no time to waste it on those who have no chance to grow into good players." Ochiai often gives the impression of being arrogant and smug. He is seen more than once thinking that his time to take over the team is fast approaching. Because Ochiai doesn't share the same view as Kataoka, he often appears out of nowhere – which is kind of creepy sometimes - when the coach is not around, to talk to one or two players alone, so that nobody gets in his way. History In the past, he was an assistant coach of the baseball club/team in Kokai University Sagara High School from Kanagawa, a team that regularly appeared at Koshien. Act I - Chapter 204 Relationships with other characters Furuya Satoru Right from the beginning Ochiai sees great potential in Furuya. He would prefer it, if Kataoka would let Furuya pitch a whole game, so that Furuya could gain more game experience. He also suggested they sacrifice the team solely for Furuya and his growth. Act I - Chapter 223 Kataoka argues that he perfectly understands the importance of having the ace, but isn’t willing to sacrifice one of the very few ways for the team to get to Koshien for just Furuya. Sawamura Eijun Because Sawamura can’t throw inside pitches after his match against Inashiro (because of the yips) Ochiai thinks he can't be used - although he admits that his pitches aren't half bad. To use Sawamura nonetheless he suggests Sawamura switch to being a sidearm pitcher to let Seidou's batters practice against him for the upcoming match, because the pitcher of their next opposing team is a left-handed sidearm pitcher. That way Sawamura will be useful to the team''. The moment in which Kataoka finds out, he orders Sawamura to stop immediately, because it would destroy his form. Act I - Chapter 239 He only cuts Ochiai a look, but says nothing. Later in the series, he helped Sawamura to learn breaking balls and develop the Change-up and Palm ball, admitting that he has potential to become a good pitcher. Kataoka Tesshin At the beginning he often confronts Kataoka with the fact that as long as Furuya is on the team, Sawamura will always be number two, no matter how hard the later works. But Kataoka stated that he never would sacrifice the whole team solely for Furuya, unlike Ochiai. Ochiai is curious about Kataoka and wants to know how good he can be at being a coach. He often states that Kataoka is pushing the players hard during training sessions and calls him "Devil". Act I - Chapter 205 Although they disagree from time to time Kataoka values Ochiai’s opinion as a coach and vice versa. Trivia *He is shy to strangers. *Ochiai has a five-year old daughter. Act I - Chapter 412 *He has a twitter that he often updates. *When he was in high school, he played baseball as one of his team's catchers, but was not a starter. Act II - Chapter 49 Quotes *"But you lost. It's like you are practicing just to lose." ''- to 1st-Year trio *"Damn! What's with that old guy! He talks all nasty!" ''- Sawamura'' *"This pitcher is useless." ''- about Sawamura'' Act I - Chapter 222 *"Even from an objective standpoint this team isn't weak. The players are highly motivated and the atmosphere during practice isn't bad. Surely all the players are well-trained under Kataoka-san's guidance. But it's hard for the current team to dominate in the fall tournament." ''- to Kataoka'' *"This fall is a joint suicide with Furuya." ''- to Kataoka'' *"In other words, Sawamura is a stalking horse needed to bring out Furuya's full power."''- to Kataoka, Takashima, and Oota'' Act I - Chapter 292 *"We all know, and especially you, coach Kataoka, that as long as there's Furuya on this team, Sawamura will always be number 2, no matter how hard he works." ''- to Kataoka, Takashima, and Oota'' *"He became the master of the bullpen before we knew it." ''- Oota'' Act I - Chapter 318 *"With much desirable things comes also many undesirable things. To soar even higher, an even more unshakable foundation will be needed." ''- to Takashima'' Act II - Chapter 10 Gallery File:Ochiai.2.png|Ochiai introduces himself. Ochiai.png|Ochiai's manga appearance. Outsider01.png|Ochiai's anime appearance. Whispersof02.png|Whispers of the devil. ochiai.ep.51.png|Ochiai wearing his uniform. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Seidou High School